We’re past the halfway point of National Poetry Month, but there’s still plenty of time to celebrate the art of verse. Specifically, the poetic voices of the State of Maine.

National Poetry Month began back in 1996; 2018 marks the 22nd year of the celebration. Introduced by the Academy of American Poets as a way to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry in the United States. Every year, more and more events spring up like April flowers to perpetuate the celebratory nature of NPD.

For our part here at The Maine Edge, we’d like to offer up a brief look at the roster of poets who have held the position of Poet Laureate for the state of Maine, including excerpts from a past conversation with Stuart Kestenbaum, our current Poet Laureate.

PRESQUE ISLE Presque Isle resident Anthony Dolan Scott will be hosting a reading and book signing of his new poetry book, 'The Year Things Came Apart' (Maine Authors Publishing, 2016), at Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library in Presque Isle on March 10 at 6 p.m.

'The Year Things Came Apart' tells the story of the author moving to Aroostook County as a fundamentalist pastor, confident in his divine destiny. But as his 'divine destiny' unfolds, life sends a series of troubles the housing bubble bursts; many of the faithful squabble, turn on him and leave; his marriage becomes strained as the pressure mounts; his own father, after more than 40 years of marriage, leaves his mother for another woman. At the climax, his father dies unrepentant, leaving Scott with a decision: What to do with a faith too rigid to heal his grief?

Everyone is born a poet, William Stafford said. It is the ultimate 'do it yourself' art form. Yet few except the terminally poetic foster that playfulness and curiosity with words and sounds. What draws people to take a pen to paper and bare the deep, secret experience of their life for all to read and judge?

'Poems are life transmuted into diamonds, compact and indestructible,' Richard Lederer said. The curious character of poetry is its eloquence. By capturing the commonplace and everyday experience, poetry finds the universal strands connecting us all. And it does so with the words which we all use and know. Writing and reading poetry is as fun and innocent as making castles in the sand. But why then do people stop making sand castles with words?

BREWER - Coming to the Next Generation Theatre Thursday, June 13 at 7 p.m., is The Union. A showcase of the fine musical and artistic talent our fair city is home to, it will feature an all-star line-up of local artists and musicians in live collaboration.

'The Union is designed to bring together music, painting and poetry, not only by sharing a stage, but also by inspiring one another in a very unique way,' organizer Carlie Deshane said.

With the advent of an HD version of 'Age of Empires II,' my friends and I have been replaying the original to brush up on our skills. After a few games, we started to notice some incredibly odd things about the world that 'AoE2' resides in, such as the fact that trees are more hardy than most walls. That got my imagination going, and I had to wonder, what do the denizens of this weird place actually think about what's going on? My next thought that the best person to tell this tale of woe and oddity would be one of the immortal villagers who has been chopping wood since the Dark Ages. The rest, as they say, is poetry.

ROCKLAND The coastal town of Rockland is well known for its vibrant visual arts community. But what Poet Laureate of Rockland Carol Bachofner wanted to do was highlight the art of poetry as well. Four years ago, she brought the idea to the local library staff, and Poetry Month Rockland was born.

'It is the one written medium that will connect with a wide range of people's emotions and life experiences,' said Bachofner. 'It's kind of a small taste, like going to a buffet of life: you get a little bit of emotion that you don't touch on an everyday basis. Loss. Or the joy you feel when you connect with nature. The pride you feel in your children. There are a lot of little emotions that can get encapsulated in poetry. It is also a way to connect with the dark areas in our lives that we don't want to deal with in too big of a bite.'

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BANGOR Bards used to be big deals. They held court with kings and queens, spoke many languages, and could recite verse and stories from memory. They were highly regarded, valued, and sought after. And for some reason, that regard as faded with time. There is a disconnect between the written word and the audience of today, and poetry in particular seems to have fallen from grace.